After entering the teleportation booth, Perry and Fido stood in a small space. After Fido entered the code, a flash of light appeared, and the vision in front of them changed instantly. They had come to a completely new scene. Fido smiled and introduced to Perry: "We are here. This is the trade market in Marika Village. Because it is close to the sea, it has become a popular place for chefs and businessmen from all over the world to trade."
They walked out of the telephone booth and saw a bustling market in front of them. The bustling crowd filled the narrow streets, and the vendors shouted loudly to sell all kinds of ingredients and groceries. The air was filled with a mixture of food and sea breeze, with a little salty smell. Fido pointed to a corner of the market and said to Perry: "Look there, in the remote corner is a stall specially prepared for novice chefs. The stall owners there will sell ingredients at a lower price, or accept ingredients or dishes in exchange."
Perry looked around and saw many apprentices in chef uniforms bargaining with stall owners. Some people left with joy on their faces, carrying bags filled with various ingredients. Fido looked at Perry and asked excitedly, "What is the specific task that Chef Oliver gave you?"
Perry took out a note from his pocket and handed it to Fido. Fido smiled and said, "It turns out to be these five ingredients. Chef Oliver hopes you can find them here. Here are two hairy crabs, 300g blood clams, 100g rice, 3 red garlics and a grade D cheese. Although these ingredients have no attributes, you will find that the price of seafood is generally higher, so you can try to exchange them with the fish and meat in your hand."
Perry looked at the names of the ingredients on the note and was thinking about the possibility of trading. He looked around and found that the stalls here had their own characteristics. Some stall owners specialized in seafood, while others sold agricultural products. Many chef apprentices bargained in front of the stalls, trying to buy the best quality ingredients at the lowest price. The lively scene here and the hustle and bustle around made Perry a little uncomfortable for a while.
Seeing that he was a little nervous, Fido patted his shoulder and said, "Relax, this is your practice ground. Learning how to negotiate with stall owners is an important lesson to become a good chef. You can try to exchange the ingredients in your hand with the stall owners. As for me, I have to sell the dishes I have in my hand to earn some extra ingredients." He pointed to a small cafe in the distance and said, "When you finish shopping, meet me at the cafe over there."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fido disappeared in the crowd, leaving Perry standing there with a puzzled look on his face. He originally planned to observe how Fido traded with the stall owner, but it seemed that Chef Oliver asked him to come to the market alone, perhaps as a test to test his ability to handle things independently.
At this moment, the voice of the system rang in Perry's ears: [It's okey, Perry! Don't worry, I will find ingredients with you. Exercising your negotiation skills is also a key step to improve your ability as a chef apprentice! ]
Perry was inspired by the words of the system, took a deep breath, and felt the atmosphere of the market coming towards him. He looked up in the direction of the stall and began to look for the ingredients on the paper. There were so many things here that Perry thought he should go to the seafood stall first because he saw that many seafood stall owners had closed their stalls.
Perry looked around and finally saw a seafood stall not far away. He squeezed through the crowd and came to the stall. He looked around and hesitated for a moment. The prices here were ridiculously high - a shrimp cost 500 gold coins, and the long-haired crab he needed was as high as 7,000 gold coins! Such a sky-high price made Perry completely lose interest in buying.
The stall owner was a bald middle-aged man. When he saw Perry coming, he greeted him enthusiastically: "Come, come, take a look at my seafood! These are all just caught from the sea, absolutely fresh!" However, passers-by shook their heads and left as soon as they took a look at the prices on the stall. The bald boss saw that no one was buying, and his face was immediately unhappy. He couldn't help but complain in a low voice: "These people really have no vision..."
Perry listened to his complaints and laughed in his heart. He felt that this place was not suitable for him, so he decided to continue looking for other stalls. Just as he was about to leave, the system whispered in his ear: "Host, there is a small stall in front that also sells seafood. Maybe you can go and have a look."
Perry followed the system's line of sight and saw a little boy who was no more than ten years old enthusiastically selling his seafood. There were many people around the stall, especially a few aunts, who seemed to be particularly interested in the boy's products. Perry noticed that the boy's stall had the blood clams he needed, which made his eyes light up.
The boy greeted each customer sweetly, and praised them from time to time, "Auntie, you have a good eye. The clams you picked are just caught by me. They are guaranteed to be fresh!" He packaged the ingredients skillfully, and his sincere smile won the love of many customers.
Perry looked at the boy's lively hawking and sincere smile, and couldn't help but find it interesting, so he walked towards the boy's stall involuntarily. Just as he stepped out of the bald boss's stall, the boss's dissatisfied sound came from behind him, and he seemed to glare at him unhappily, with a bit of jealousy and helplessness.
However, Perry ignored the bald boss's displeasure, instead he quickened his pace and walked straight to the boy's stall. He thought, maybe in this stall, he could find good and cheap ingredients, and also experience the fun of bargaining with others.
Perry came to the little boy's stall, looked at the fresh seafood on the stall, and couldn't help showing a little surprise. When the boy saw the new customer, he immediately greeted him with a smile and said enthusiastically: "Come and take a look, just tell me if you want anything!"
Perry looked at the price list on the stall, and felt a little relieved - the price here is indeed much cheaper than the bald boss's stall, a shrimp only costs fifty gold coins. The system gently reminded him in his ear: [See, the red shell is the blood clam. ]Perry nodded, and then asked the boy: "How much do you want for 300 grams of blood clams?"
The little boy quickly counted with his fingers and replied with a smile: "300 grams is 720 gold coins. But since it's your first time to buy, I'll be cheaper, how about 700 gold coins?"
Perry knew that he didn't bring enough gold coins to buy these expensive seafood, so he could only ask tentatively: "Can I exchange it with ingredients? I have some good fish and meat."
The boy looked a little embarrassed when he heard this, and shook his head apologetically: "Sorry, I only accept gold coins here, not other ingredients." Hearing this answer, Perry was a little disappointed and whispered to himself, "Is that so... Then what should I do?"
The boy seemed to see Perry's troubles. He rolled his eyes and enthusiastically suggested, "Actually, you can go to the nearby free trading station, sell the ingredients in your hands for gold coins, and then buy my things! It's over there. Do you see the place that looks like a circus tent? That's the free trading station. Many people buy and sell ingredients there!"
Perry looked in the direction the boy pointed and saw a huge colorful tent that looked like a circus. There were people coming and going at the door, and it was very lively. He nodded, thanked the boy, and turned to walk towards the trading station.
The boy quickly turned to the new customer and continued to greet him sweetly, "Come and see the fresh seafood! I guarantee that they are all freshly fished!" Perry looked back at the busy boy and encouraged himself secretly in his heart - perhaps this was a rare training opportunity for him to learn how to trade and bargain independently.
When Perry walked near the tent, he met a counter staff member who asked politely, "Are you here to buy something or to sell ingredients?"
"I'm here to sell ingredients," Perry replied.
The staff member nodded, pointed to the area next to him and said, "Then please go to the next door to line up and let our staff check your ingredients before you can enter."
Perry thanked him and walked to the queue area next to him as instructed. Soon he found that the queues here were divided into two - one for selling finished dishes and the other for trading ingredients. He saw people in the ingredient queue, some carrying large bags and some carrying small baskets with all kinds of ingredients in them. Perry guessed that Fido might have been busy promoting his own dishes in this busy trading area.